US drone strike kills three in North Waziristan

At least three persons were reportedly killed on Friday in a U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan, an area bordering Afghanistan.

According to officials, the unmanned aircraft fired two missiles on a house in Asukhel area of Mir Ali, killing three people on the spot and turning the house into debris.

Drone strikes have become a regular tactic of the United States to target North Waziristan; a safe hideout for the militants from where they launch attacks against US led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

The covert strikes are unpopular in Pakistan, where the government in public denounces them as a violation of sovereignty, but the U.S. has ruled out any change in its policy, claiming that Islamabad is reluctant to go after the militants in North Waziristan.

A report commissioned by legal lobby group Reprieve in September estimated that between 474 to 881 civilians were among 2,562 to 3,325 people killed by drones in Pakistan between June 2004 and September 2012.

It is to be mentioned here that on Thursday, a US drone aircraft crashed in South Waziristan area. Although there was no confirmation as to how the drone crashed but there were chances that militants might had target it with anti-aircraft weapons.